A member of one of the largest organized crime groups of Komi tried to hide from criminal prosecution abroad.

Employees of the Russian MIA’s National Interpol Bureau delivered Viktor Karpov, an alleged member of one of the largest organized crime groups of Komi led by mafia boss Yuri Pichugin (Pichuga), from Thailand to Moscow, TASS reports with reference to the official MIA representative Irina Volk.

According to investigators, Karpov was an active participant in the Pichuga’s OCG and fled abroad to avoid responsibility. The leader of the gang and its 17 members have already been taken into cusotdy. The criminal case against Karpov was instituted under the article on participation in an organized criminal community (part 2 of Aarticle 210 CCRF).

According to the police, in the 1990s, Pichuga’s gang extorted money from businessmen, as well as was involved in large-scale thefts and robberies and raider seizures in Komi. Pichugin gathered a gang in 1994 from athletes, former special forces officers and other former security officials.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the members of a criminal group began investing the stolen money in businesses in order to legalize the profits. Pichugin introduced rules for all his accomplices in order to help hide their dark past.

In late September, the ICR completed the investigation into the case of the leader of the Komi OCG. It was 300 volumes. Pichugin is accused of organizing a criminal community, possession of weapons and murders.